Question of the day
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
An innovative proposal from State Senator Heather Steans could help businesses and state government at the same time by paying down Illinois’ backlog of bills more quickly.
Steans’ measure would allow the state treasurer to take over debts more than 90 days old, pay the vendors and clear the bills from the state’s ledgers. The approach would enable Illinois to pay off old debts more quickly, slow the accrual of interest penalties and inject money into local economies where businesses have been harmed by the state’s ongoing budget difficulties.
“This is a winning strategy to make more headway on the bill backlog. Every taxpayer benefits,” said Steans, a Chicago Democrat and a Senate point person on budget matters.
“If the treasurer has funds sitting there unused, why shouldn’t that money logically be available for this need? It won’t solve the entire bill backlog problem, but it will get us to a resolution more quickly.”
The proposal, Senate Bill 2858, would allow the state treasurer to pay bills more than 90 days old if the vouchers in the comptroller’s office exceed funds available by $1 billion. It would save the state additional money by implementing a 0.3 percent monthly late payment interest penalty – rather than the 1 percent under current law – on balances paid off by the treasurer’s office through the Vendor Payment Program.
Last year, Illinois paid more than $1 billion in late interest penalties – an outrageous and inefficient use of taxpayer dollars that could have been directed to other needs, Steans said.
“This legislation will help stop the accrual of interest on late payments and enable us to turn around payments to companies that do business with the state in a more reasonable amount of time,” Steans said.
Senate Bill 2858 passed the Senate today and now advances to the House for further consideration.
* Treasurer’s website…
The Treasurer’s Office manages the State Investment Portfolio, with assets of approximately $12-$15 billion, providing the necessary liquidity to meet the state’s daily obligations while investing remaining funds in authorized short/long-term investment opportunities.
* The Question: What do you think of Sen. Steans’ proposal?
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Repubs use Pelosi fundraiser to whack Dems
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the NRCC…
Hey –
It’s official – Illinois Democrats are #TeamPelosi.
Sean Casten, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, and Lauren Underwood have been silent on whether they’ll support Nancy Pelosi. That changes tonight at 5PM – DC time, not IL time.
Nancy Pelosi is headlining a fundraiser on Capitol Hill for them. The fact that they decided raising cash with Pelosi is more important than talking to voters in Illinois is a full-throated endorsement if I’ve ever seen one.
Looking forward to watching Casten, Londrigan, and Underwood parade around Illinois promoting Nancy Pelosi’s agenda.
List of upcoming events in IL-06, IL-13, and IL-14:
• Roundtable: repealing and replacing your tax cut, raise, and bonus.
• Panel: Impeach Trump Now!
• Debate: what is the definition of a crumb?
• Discussion: making room for a $32 trillion single-payer system.
For whatever reason, the release didn’t mention Brendan Kelly, who is also one of the beneficiaries (click here).
* The ILGOP didn’t make that mistake…
Hey Rich,
Not sure if you’ve seen, but wanted to flag an article and a DCCC fundraising invite (image attached) for you re Brendan Kelly:
Real Clear Politics - (4/25/18): Non-Supporter of Pelosi Benefits From Her Fundraising
You’ll recall… The Southern - (3/26/18): If he wins, Brendan Kelly wants a change in leadership — meaning finding options other than Pelosi
So Kelly tells voters in Southern Illinois that he opposes a Pelosi Speakership, but fundraises with her in DC? Hmm…
Other things of note from the RCP article: Sean Casten of IL-06 and Betsy Dirksen Londrigan of IL-13 were both noncommittal on supporting Pelosi for Speaker.
…Adding… I didn’t get this NRCC statement about Kelly…
“It is astounding that Brendan Kelly thinks he can get away with bashing Nancy Pelosi in Southern Illinois while also raising money with her in DC. Kelly is already the worst kind of politician – he says one thing to voters back home, and does the complete opposite in Washington. Voters should be misled no longer: a vote for Brendan Kelly is a vote for Nancy Pelosi.” – NRCC Spokeswoman Maddie Anderson
…Adding… From Brendan Kelly…
“I’ve been clear, we need new leadership in Washington in both parties. Some folks may agree with my position, some may not. I’m glad to to have the Illinois delegation’s help in fighting for Southern Illinois and I appreciate them inviting me.”
* Meanwhile…
One of the resources the [Sean Casten] campaign used [in the Democratic primary] was a political action committee called “My Committee,” according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission.
“My Committee” funded attack ads on another Democratic candidate in the race, Kelly Mazeski. As a super PAC, the committee is permitted to raise unlimited sums of money and has no cap on spending either - but federal election law prohibits super PACs from coordinating efforts with the candidate they’re supporting.
That rule brings “My Committee” under scrutiny, as a key supporter was Casten’s father Tom Casten, who records indicate donated $150,000 to the super PAC, which was previously called the “Sunshine PAC.” […]
New polling released by Casten’s campaign on Wednesday indicated that the race appears to be a dead heat, with Roskam polling at 45 percent to Casten’s 44. […]
“Sean Casten using his daddy’s money to ensure that a qualified female candidate has no shot to make it out of a primary is both unoriginal and deeply concerning,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Maddie Anderson said in a statement.
That poll should help explain why this little bit of oppo was dumped.
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* Tuesday…
Federal authorities on Monday said they are investigating the father of Waffle House shooting suspect Travis Reinking after he returned his son’s guns to him after they were confiscated by Illinois authorities last year. Reinking was arrested for using one of the weapons, an AR-15 rifle, to massacre four people Sunday.
The actions of the suspect’s father, Jeffrey Reinking, have also highlighted an Illinois gun law that one state senator calls a “loophole” in the system.
Democratic State Sen. Julie Morrison told BuzzFeed News on Monday that the state’s Firearm Owners Identification card (FOID) Act, which allowed the father, 54, to keep his son’s weapons, and then return them to him, “should be looked into.”
“It does highlight a problem,” she said, adding that not relinquishing weapons to a family member “is something to consider.”
* Today…
The legislation, which should be made public later on Tuesday, is meant to deter a family member from returning a firearm to a relative whose gun licence has been revoked, Illinois State Senator Julie Morrison told Reuters. […]
Morrison’s legislation would require a person taking possession of guns to sign an affidavit acknowledging that it is a felony to give a firearm to a person who does not have a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) gun permit.
The proposed legislation goes some way towards closing a loophole identified by gun control groups.
The proposal is here. It pretty much just allows local law enforcement to cover their behinds.
* In other news, the local state’s attorney seems to be proceeding with utmost caution against the father, a prominent local business owner…
Jeff Reinking [the father] was legally allowed to take the weapons because he had a valid FOID card at the time. In addition, it is permissible under Illinois law to “gift” a firearm to a family member. It might not be legal to own that weapon, but there is nothing against the law from a person giving a family member a firearm, said Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stu Umholtz, who stressed he didn’t know if the weapons taken last summer, specifically the AR-15 style rifle, were used in the shooting early Sunday.
But Nashville police have said that Jeff Reinking “has now acknowledged giving them back” to his son, according to the Associated Press.
But if it was the same weapon, it still might not be a violation of Illinois law for Travis’ father to have given the weapon to his son, the prosecutor said. Illinois allows “bonafide” gifted firearms to family members, even those who don’t have a valid FOID card. In that case, it’s illegal to possess, but there is nothing in the law to stop the transfer of ownership, the prosecutor said.
“It would not appear to be a violation of Illinois law if Travis was a resident of Tennessee and his father delivered the firearms in Tennessee,” Umholtz said, again stressing that he didn’t have all the facts and was making his observations based upon initial reports.
That whole “gift” to a family member thing is the real loophole, and it’s not addressed in any legislation I’ve yet seen. I have no problems with gifts of guns to relatives. But gifts of guns to relatives whose FOID cards are revoked is a whole other story.
* Meanwhile, it would be nice if we could get to the bottom of this evaluation…
In 2016 Illinois police took Waffle House shooting suspect Travis Reinking into protective custody after he was found in a CVS parking lot “delusional.” […]
Family members said he had threatened to kill himself and told police he “owns and had access to many firearms at his residence.”
Reinking, who was 27 at the time, was taken to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation. It’s unknown what the evaluation found or when he was released.
* Related…
* Waffle House suspect’s ex-bosses asked FBI to keep, help him: The co-owner of a Colorado crane company where the suspect in a deadly weekend shooting at a Nashville restaurant once worked said she had urged federal officials to keep him in custody after he was arrested at the White House last year… “We told them, ‘Hang onto him if you can. Help him if you can,’” Sustrich said.
* Waffle House shooting suspect left trail of bizarre behaviors in Colorado: Turley said Reinking also called himself a “sovereign citizen” - a group the FBI defines as anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or “sovereign” from the United States.
* Obsessed with Taylor Swift, arrested outside the White House, and afraid police were following him: One of the employees at the [Colorado] crane company, Ken Sustrich, told police that he reached out to Reinking’s father with concerns about his son’s mental health. He said the father replied that he was aware of the issues and “had been recently trying to rekindle his relationship with Travis,” the police report said.
* Jeffrey Reinking, Travis Reinking’s Father: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know: [Reinking’s mother] also shared a note on a homeschool convention shared by the Association of Peoria Area Christian Educators, although it’s not clear whether Travis Reinking was homeschooled. She shared a video from Christian Life Academy called Seeds Family Worship. Judy also shared a Fox News article titled “’Calibration error changes GOP votes to Dem in Illionois County.”
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* Oy…
McCann voted “No.”
* From Forsaken Generation…
Jen Suter is a single mom, activist and the Co-Founder of Illinois Coalition for Informed Consent… a group made up of over 1,000 Illinois residents, that stands for medical freedom, parental rights, vaccine safety and informed consent. In the Spring of 2017, alongside hundreds of dedicated Illinois activists, Jen took part in stalling a FLU mandate for healthcare employees. When she isn’t meeting with local legislators and working with all of the people of IC4IC to stop medical mandates in Illinois for both students and employees, she is homeschooling her 6 year old son Jackson.
* From the Illinois Coalition for Informed Consent’s web page…
IC4IC works closely with National Vaccine Information Center. NVIC is the number one organization with the most legislative experience regarding vaccine law in the country.
* From the LA Times…
The nonprofit NVIC says it “does not advocate for or against the use of vaccines” and describes itself as a proponent of “vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the public health system.” However, its campaigns portray vaccines as risky and encourage people to consider alternatives, like hand-washing. In his book “Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives,” Michael Specter calls the group “the most powerful anti-vaccine organization in America.”
* Wikipedia…
The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is a U.S based anti-vaccination organization which has been widely criticized as a leading source of vaccine misinformation and fearmongering. While NVIC describes itself as the “oldest and largest consumer led organization advocating for the institution of vaccine safety and informed consent protections”, it promotes false and misleading information including the fraudulent claim that vaccines cause autism, and its campaigns portray vaccination as risky, encouraging people to consider “alternatives”.
…Adding… Press release from the sponsor…
After an increase in hospital visits during what was reported as an extremely harsh flu season, State Senator Mattie Hunter (D- Chicago) increased efforts to provide students and parents research and prevention materials regarding influenza.
“There was a very rapid increase in the number of people going to see their doctors or health care providers with flu related symptoms,” said Hunter. “We have to get in front of this issue by providing children and families the information they need to live healthy lives.”
Senate Bill 2654 requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to develop informational materials about influenza and flu vaccines for school districts. Additionally, school boards would be required to provide that information to parents when notifying them of other health related matters.
“Influenza is a dangerous illness that can have serious consequences, but people can take steps to protect themselves,” Hunter said. “We need to make sure no one ends up severely ill because they lacked information on preventative measures they can take.”
According to reports, there have been, a total of 114 pediatric deaths related to the flu; 30 deaths so far this year. Doctors’ offices and emergency rooms experienced visits at levels almost as high as during the 2009 swine flu epidemic.
The bill passed 40-12 and will head the Illinois House of Representative for further consideration.
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It’s just a bill
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Your thoughts on this?…
* AFSCME Council 31 action alert…
Senator Bill Brady has just introduced Senate Amendment 1 to SB 2680, which replaces everything after the enacting clause.
His amendment would amend the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act to provide that the design, implementation, and administration of a health insurance plan shall not be the subject of negotiations between the State of Illinois and any union representing public employees, and that the duty of the employer “to bargain collectively” shall not include any obligation to negotiate health insurance or health benefits.
This legislation would let Gov. Bruce Rauner set employee health care premiums based on the devastating terms he has been trying to impose on state employees.
* Illinois Board of Higher Education Chairman Tom Cross…
Illinois Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, has introduced a bill for the creation of a single state board with responsibility for higher education (SB 2597). I believe it outlines a positive means toward a stronger administrative structure for facilitating useful action steps to address priorities for Illinois’ higher education system. I urge members of the Illinois General Assembly to join with Senator Rose in reviewing this proposal further.
As a single board of higher education, leading a strategic process for development of statewide goals and recommendations for allocating state resources will be more effective. Simply put, one board, one staff, and one organizational structure streamlines the effort. Illinois higher education faces challenges concerning college costs; enrollment shifts resulting from increasing outmigration and changing needs of college students who are older, parenting, and working; and establishing effective and forward looking governance of Illinois’ higher education system. A unified board and staff organization can better focus on these challenges by being inclusive in representing the needs of students, public community colleges and universities, private institutions of higher education; and the faculty and staff serving the higher education system.
The legislation proposes a merger of boards and administrative operations of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. From my role as chairman of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, I am convinced that collaboration of common activities is not only necessary but also should prove more efficient.
* Other bills…
* Senate bill to reduce child absences passes
* Our View: Budgets should include estimates of late payment interest penalties
* ACA-Related Bill Fails in Illinois House: The measure would prevent Illinois from seeking waivers from the federal law’s requirements - like the one that say insurance companies cannot exclude people with pre-existing conditions. It would also keep the state from imposing work requirements on people in the low-income Medicaid program. The Trump administration has been encouraging both moves.
* Rezin’s robocall bill passed through Senate: Under Rezin’s Senate Bill 2573, robo callers would face a separate violation if they disguise or falsify their caller ID in any way, which is commonly known as “spoofing.” In addition, Rezin’s legislation would require prior written consent before robo callers could use auto-dialer software. The Illinois Attorney General would be given the responsibility of enforcement.
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Tronc to guild: No
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Public Radio…
Organizers of a newsroom union at the Chicago Tribune have informed its publisher that colleagues have given such overwhelming formal support for their effort that the paper’s parent company should recognize the guild voluntarily and start to negotiate a contract.
The organizers gave the Tribune’s parent company, Tronc, a day to make a decision.
According to a letter from the Chicago Tribune Guild organizing committee obtained by NPR, the nascent union has received signed union authorization cards from more than 85 percent of staffers who would fall under the bargaining unit.
“Voluntary recognition would allow us to begin contract negotiations, saving the company the cost and inconvenience of a campaign and an election that will result overwhelmingly in our favor,” read the letter, sent Tuesday morning to Bruce Dold, the Tribune’s editor and publisher.
* The answer came today…
* The Chicago Tribune Guild’s response…
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* Pro-legalization op-ed in The Hill…
Despite the progress made on cannabis policies within legislative chambers and ballot boxes across America, the rollout of successful regulated cannabis markets has been stymied in several jurisdictions, and the illegal market has remained strong. The single biggest reason why is legislative fear of creating sufficient retail access to meet market demand. Simply put: if cannabis consumers cannot conveniently access the regulated market, they will continue to purchase from the illegal market, be it the unlicensed dispensary across the street, or the dealer around the corner.
Real cities provide real examples of this. In Denver, where medical cannabis became legal in 2000 and adult use in 2012, city leaders licensed one cannabis retail establishment per 3,091 residents. The illegal market rate quickly fell to 30 percent. But in Seattle — which legalized medical cannabis in 1998 and adult use in 2012, and had a state-imposed cap of just 21 retail licenses and a resulting density of one dispensary per 30,373 residents — the illegal market rate was an astounding 70 percent. Subsequent declines in city’s illegal market rate came about only by doubling the number of licensed retail outlets, but they are still elevated.
Reasonable tax rates, availability of delivery services and social consumption lounges, as well as rational advertising standards that allow licensed businesses to differentiate themselves from illicit operators also play a role in the strength of the legal cannabis market. But bottom line: if the legal market is less accessible to the average consumer than unlicensed businesses, the regulated industry will struggle and likely fail.
State and local officials in California and Massachusetts, which are in the throes of launching their respective adult-use cannabis systems, would benefit from the experiences of other states with adult-use policy frameworks. To date, lawmakers in California have grappled to shift unlicensed operations into the legal market in the wake of opening its legal market in January 2018. Local governments have severely thwarted the ascendance of a regulated industry that is reasonably accessible to consumers. Almost 85 percent of local jurisdictions have placed bans on cannabis retail operations. Not surprising, as a result California is missing its cannabis tax revenue projections and many potential licensed operators have been forced to freeze operations and lay off staff.
Our own independent research of licensed jurisdictions indicates that the optimal density ratio is roughly one legal cannabis retail storefront or delivery service license per 7,500 residents. Once density falls below this level, the illegal market maintains a strong presence, and the legal market struggles to establish itself — to the point where traditional law enforcement efforts remain ineffective at containing unlicensed operators and the failed outcomes of the decades-old war on cannabis continue.
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* Illinois News Network…
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association said Monday that it had obtained emails showing that municipal officials illegally shared local businesses tax information with an outside company that makes money auditing businesses on behalf of local governments.
Illinois Retail Merchants Association President and CEO Rob Karr read off emails the association acquired from local officials that shared tax information from local businesses with Chicago-based auditing firm Azavar. In a series of FOIA requests, Karr’s organization found officials from Elgin, Lockport, Homer Glen and Rockford being solicited by Azavar to participate in potentially illegal sharing of local businesses sales tax data to allow Azavar to do audits to potentially recover sales tax revenue a business would owe the local government.
“Sharing this information is outside of the law,” Karr said. “We wouldn’t do this to our individual taxpayers. Why would we do this to our businesses?”
In the emails, city officials were instructed by Azavar employees to turn over documents to the firm via a compact disc.
“Please do not copy us on the email, as we are still working with IDOR to be able to contact them directly on behalf of our clients,” Azavar Vice President Scott Shamberg wrote in an email to Lockport Finance Director Erik Brown.
Azavar President Jason Perry refused to comment on the emails.
Business tax information is generally regarded as confidential and municipal officials often go to lengths to make sure it is kept secret. Sharing such information could be costly for the local officials. According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, releasing information shared with the local officials via their reciprocal agreement on exchange of information is punishable with up to a $7,500 fine.
More here and here.
* Greg Hinz…
[Opponents] also charge the bill largely is the creation of Azavar Government Solutions, a Chicago-based auditing and consulting firm that has been politically active in recent years. The company has donated more than $200,000 since 2012, most of it to state lawmakers, including $11,000 to House Speaker Mike Madigan and $4,000 to House GOP Leader Jim Durkin.
One major watchdog is siding with the business groups in this fight.
Azavar is “a bounty hunter” that gets a contingency fee of as much of 50 percent of what it collects, says Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois President Carol Portman. The bill “would essentially outsource a government function to someone whose interests are not aligned (with the public interest),” she added.
Also opposed to the bill as it’s now written is the Revenue Department. “Third-party entities would be able to determine how the department uses its audit resources,” with the agency potentially swamped with private requests for probes, said spokesman Terry Horstman.
But Paul Rosenfeld, a lobbyist who represents the Illinois Coalition of Local Governments and lobbies for Azavar in Cook County, said the Revenue Department “has made mistakes. They don’t like it when someone looks over their shoulder.” Rosenfeld, who’s also the 47th Ward Democratic committeeman, said it’s not true, as Portman suggested, that the bill is the first step toward privatizing Revenue Department collections. […]
Rosenfeld said his group examined 66 cases and found in nearly half of the instances, the Revenue Department made mistakes, some involving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Revenue Department objections “are a scare tactic by the (Rauner) administration,” Welch said. And in fact, the bill will strengthen confidentiality by shifting data from CD roms to an encrypted website, he said.
Azavar’s campaign contributions are here.
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* GOP (dis)unity watch…
Just over a month after her narrow primary election loss to incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, state Rep. Jeanne Ives said she’ll continue to spread her message across the state.
“I have a responsibility. I can’t just hide,” said Ives, a Wheaton Republican, during a stop at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel to address members of the Restore Our Constitution political group. “I’m not going to hide or go away. I’m not going to do that.”
Ives said she plans to tour the state raising awareness of issues such as pensions and fiscal responsibility, and campaigning for fellow Republican candidates in an effort to win a majority in the state House of Representatives. […]
Ives said it is likely she will also start to make campaign visits with Republican candidates as the election season heads into the summer. […]
Asked who her supporters should line up behind [for governor], Ives said it was up to them to decide.
Full video is here.
…Adding… DGA…
“Bruce Rauner tried to ignore her, lie about her, and hide in Europe from her, but his Jeanne Ives problem will be front and center in this race,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Ives just told her supporters they could vote for anyone, including Sam McCann, and her continued presence on the campaign trail for anyone but Rauner is just a reminder of his failure.”
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* DGA…
Governor Bruce Rauner’s poor primary performance keeps moving the Illinois governor’s race up the rankings as the National Journal’s Hotline ranked it the #1 most likely race to flip parties next year (it was previously ranked #5). Zach Cohen and Kyle Trygstad of Hotline wrote:
Rauner is the most vulnerable governor, and his seat is the Democrats’ best pickup opportunity. Democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker won 200,000 more votes in his decisive March primary than Rauner, who won renomination by just 2 points […] in a state that Hillary Clinton won by a similar margin, and his odds further improved when Rauner’s alienation of the Right led to a third-party challenge from GOP state Sen. Sam McCann…
The new ranking coincides with Rauner return from Europe to find his base problem even worse. Before his trip, Rauner was merely failing to reunite his divided party after state Representative Jeanne Ives took 48% of the primary vote. Now, he returns home to find even more challenges after Republican state Senator Sam McCann joined the race and immediately began courting disgruntled Ives voters.
“Three years of failed leadership and a party unity problem add up to make Bruce Rauner the most vulnerable incumbent in the nation,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner’s record of failure has turned off Democrats and Independents — and has inspired Republicans to line up and hold him accountable. It’s no wonder Illinois is ranked as the most likely governorship to flip in America.”
* Pritzker campaign…
Today, the Pritzker campaign is introducing a weekly series to hold Bruce Rauner accountable for his frequent falsehoods, and will also debut “Rauner Lie Alerts” in real time when the failed governor is caught in a lie. With over 70% of Rauner’s 18 fact checks rated “half true” or worse, the truth is clear: Bruce Rauner is a liar.
Proposing a balance budget is the constitutional obligation of a governor, but Bruce Rauner has failed to meet that every year he’s been in office. Despite receiving a Pants on Fire! rating from PolitiFact for claiming he’s proposed a balanced budget in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Rauner continues to pathologically lie about his failure. “Indeed, fiscal experts say Rauner has never proposed a balanced budget as required under the state Constitution since taking office in 2015,” the fact check concludes.
“Bruce Rauner failed to propose a balanced budget and then repeatedly lied about not fulfilling his constitutional obligation to Illinois taxpayers,” said Pritzker campaign communications director Galia Slayen. “Every single year this governor failed to do his job and then lied about it to the very same Illinoisans suffering the consequences of his failures.”
* Rauner campaign…
After yesterday’s launch of PritzkerMadigan.com, the Rauner campaign today added a companion parody Twitter account: @PritzkerMadigan
Follow for musings on the insider deals, out-of-control spending, and endless tax hikes holding Illinois back.
Feel free to send a Direct Message to our team at @PritzkerMadigan to inquire about available patronage jobs with the Pritzker-Madigan ticket (you never know when a U.S. Senate seat is going to open up).
From the account…
*** UPDATE *** Here’s the first “lie alert”…
RAUNER LIE ALERT: “New” Trade Show Announced 265 Days Ago
Chicago, IL – Bruce Rauner lied again. After spending a week and a half in Europe, Rauner “announced” a trade show coming to Illinois… 265 days after it was first made official.
“Bruce Rauner is fabricating accomplishments as he returns to Illinois empty handed from another failed trip abroad,” said Pritzker campaign spokesman Jason Rubin.
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* Public Radio’s Daisy Contreras…
The Illinois General Assembly has only a few hours left to vote on a gun dealer licensing measure that would require gun shops to register with the state and pay a license fee. Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the proposal earlier this month, giving lawmakers only 15 calendar days to get enough support for an override. The deadline is today.
State Sen. Don Harmon – an Oak Park Democrat and sponsor of the measure, said he is still waiting to get enough support in the House and decided to not call it for a vote Tuesday evening.
“I recognize the political dynamic at work here, and it’s a tough vote for a lot of the members of the Senate, so I want to make sure we have at least a realistic chance of overriding the veto in the House as well.”
Harmon said some Republicans are needed for the override. “We just need a little more time to convince a few more suburban Republicans, in particular, to come on board and vote against the governor,” he said. “My sense is the governor doesn’t want the political embarrassment of an override. I think the issue at hand is much greater than the political dynamic here in the building.”
* AP…
.
The measure would require five-year gun-shop licenses, employee training and in-store videotaping. Republican Rauner vetoed it as “burdensome regulation” that duplicated federal licensing.
Harmon’s proposed it before. This year it came after the February massacre at a Parkland, Florida, high school and because of ongoing Chicago gun violence. […]
Thousands of gun-rights advocates descend on Springfield Wednesday for their annual gun
More on the annual I-GOLD rally can be found here.
* NRA…
While the purported intent of this legislation was to enhance “responsible business practices,” these bills only prove that the intention is to close as many federally licensed firearm dealers (FFLs) as possible. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) licenses and closely monitors all FFLs and strictly enforces any violation of federal law. SB 1657 and HB 1273 go so far beyond federal law in its mandatory regulations and red tape imposed at the state level that they would almost assuredly force the closure of most firearm dealers and prevent prospective owners from opening new ones. This legislation seeks to create so many department divisions, anti-gun 5-member licensing boards, and licensing fees that dealers would be forced to close through oversight by anti-gun appointees or being priced out of business.
* The Trace…
The Gun Dealer Licensing Act would require Illinois gun shops to obtain a state license in addition to their already mandated federal license. It would further compel dealers to conduct background checks of their employees, which federal law mandates only for shop owners, and have employees take part in mandatory training. The bill would also require shops to install video-monitoring systems in an effort to deter straw purchasing, in which a buyer purchases weapons on behalf of someone not legally allowed to own a gun.
Under the proposal, Illinois authorities would perform inspections of all gun dealers in the state. Currently, inspections fall to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency in charge of regulating firearms. However, as The Trace has reported, the ATF rarely meets its inspection targets for dealers. In 2016, agents inspected just 6.3 percent of gun stores nationally. In fiscal year 2015, the last year for which data is available, there were 2,925 dealers in Illinois.
In Chicago, a significant share of firearms recovered by police have been traced to gun dealers across the state. A report released by the city last year found that approximately 40 percent of the roughly 15,000 crime guns recovered by Chicago Police between 2013 and 2016 were sold by dealers in suburban Cook County. Almost a thousand guns that turned up at city crime scenes were linked to Chuck’s Gun Shop in the suburb of Riverdale. Midwest Sporting Goods on the West Side in the suburb of Lyons supplied nearly 700 crime guns.
State Senator Don Harmon, a Democrat who co-sponsored the legislation, said that the bill would give local law enforcement the “tools to crackdown on the handful of gun dealers who are abusing the process.”
The report is here.
* This Tribune bit could be very important and subscribers know just a little more…
Harmon said his focus was on convincing suburban Republicans to override Rauner. He said changes to the plan were being discussed in an effort to minimize the impact on gun shop owners.
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* Pollster Dave Fako is a wise man…
As the 2018 election engages, the political chatter among pundits, analysts, consultants and the array of political professionals across the spectrum are openly talking about a Blue Wave in 2018. This Wave would be significant gains by Democrats, most likely majorities in the U.S. House and possibly Senate, along with significant gains among Governors and the state legislatures.
The degree to which this wave that Democrats may surf to victory, or if it even exists at all, is debated among all involved in the process.
I readily admit that history, recent election results, polling, other data, and anecdotal evidence among my personal networks suggest a good year for Democrats - but it is mostly built on hope that Democratic enthusiasm and dislike (more like disgust) with Trump and the GOP will fuel this wave and their victories.
This is where I want to raise the cautionary flags. The national Democratic political infrastructure has been a failure for a quarter century, with Congressional Democrats going 3w and 10L and the US Senate Democrats only doing marginally better since 1992. This has also trickled down to the state and local levels and has brought Democrats to true minority party status.
The reasons for this failure are varied, many of which are out of any organization’s control. However, poor leadership, a culture that repeated the same mistakes cycle after cycle and didn’t adapt, the lack of inspiring leaders who appealed beyond their core supporters, an over emphasis on micro identity issues, and the lack of a unifying economic, fiscal, values, ethics, character and government reform policy agenda and message contributed to the electoral failures. The constant hoping, or reliance on, the GOP to screw up to help Democrats succeed was a significant part of this failure.
Hope is not a strategy and hoping your opponent is terrible for you to win is an even less effective plan. This reminds me of a message I sent to a Democratic staffer on December 17, 2015 - long before the 2016 general election was engaged:
“As a side note, my anecdotal observations along with polling data I have seen in IL and throughout the country, show a very agitated electorate that directs most of its anger at Democrats and Obama…This is probably not news to you but I am hearing too many Democratic campaign staff, consultants, etc. throughout the country thinking that dislike of the GOP alone will lead them to a win. Although that may help, it should not be exclusively relied on. Outside of hardcore Democrats, very few people I know blame the GOP, or in IL, Rauner, for any problems. They may not like the GOP or Rauner, etc., but they almost always default to blaming Democrats for the actual problems and a lack of a solution. This is particularly true with Independent voters I know and especially women, older voters and white men. Trump reminds me a little of Perot - captures a small but vocal angry share of the electorate. These angry Perot voters caused some problems in 1992 and were part of the angry base that swept Democrats out in 1994, so pay very close attention to data on Trump and his voters, especially if they are typical non-voters who could change the composition of the electorate if they turn out. Hillary is not going to be a motivating Democratic candidate outside a handful of liberal female voters who are already voting Democratic, so she will not counter balance the Trump (angry white voter) wildcard even if she is more popular and winning over whomever is the GOP candidate.”
This may not have been a popular position to take late in 2015, but the polling data and tangential evidence I saw at the time backed it up and it needed to be said.
For Democrats and progressives to take the opportunity that exists in 2018 to build long term and sustained electoral, policy and governing success, Democrats and progressives are advised to put the culture of the failed past behind them.
Run candidates who can cross the political divides and don’t necessarily fit into a defined ideological box, accept diversity in the Party rather than demanding ideological or policy orthodoxy, develop and embrace a unifying economic and governing agenda that simply gets the jobs done and carries a strong character, values and ethics message. Don’t ignore or write off significant segments of the electorate hoping that the new emerging demographics will carry you to victory (this hasn’t worked). Be emboldened to criticize your own party or leaders when they are wrong or cross ethical, character or legal lines. Bottom line, embrace a new culture, character and values approach to policy and electoral politics and new ways to succeed in elections, governing and enacting progressive policies that earn support across the political spectrum.
Discuss.
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* This is confirmed…
Interesting point.
* Harmon didn’t flip Manar, however…
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It’s just a bill
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This bill probably won’t move forward without all parties at least grudgingly comig to agreement (mainly trial lawyers and business interests), and that’s gonna be tough in a year like this…
While Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg were publicly apologizing this month for failing to protect users’ information, Google’s lobbyists were drafting measures to de-fang an Illinois law recognized as the most rigorous consumer privacy statute in the country.
Their ambition: to strip language from a decade-old policy that regulates the use of fingerprints, iris scans and facial recognition technology, and insert a loophole for companies embracing the use of biometrics.
Google is trying to exempt photos from the Illinois law at a time when it’s fighting a lawsuit in the state in which billions of dollars of damages may be at stake. The world’s largest search engine is facing claims that it violated the privacy of millions of users by gathering and storing biometric data without their consent. […]
Illinois state senator Bill Cunningham proposed an amendment to the Biometric Information Privacy Act in February then aimed at saving a local nursing home from overly burdensome litigation. Google and lobbyists from the Illinois Chamber of Commerce — of which Facebook is a member — intervened, and on April 4 they offered a new version with Cunningham to embed further caveats in the legislation, including language to exclude photos from regulatory scrutiny. […]
The amended bill in Illinois has twice been called to committee in the state senate, and twice pulled from the agenda over “misconceptions with what the bill aims to achieve,” said Cunningham. He confirmed he’ll continue to meet with Google’s lobbyist, the Illinois Chamber and privacy advocates in search of a compromise. Central to his effort and Google’s: ending the mountain of litigation triggered by BIPA that’s spawned more than 140 lawsuits since 2014.
* Other bills…
* How state lawmakers are trying to stop political patronage at tollway: Murphy said she was concerned by a Daily Herald article this month about a $6.6 million subcontract with Morreale Communications that piggybacked onto a larger engineering contract and so did not require a separate vote. The PR firm’s CEO Kim Morreale is married to Republican state Rep. Michael McAuliffe of Chicago. Engineering contracts do not bid on projects as construction companies do, where proposals are opened publicly and the lowest-cost, qualified one is selected. Instead a committee of tollway executives and an engineering professor review engineering applications and make recommendations. “Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent,” particularly with a no-bid process, Murphy said. “We have procurement rules in place to avoid the exact thing that this appears to be.”
* Stephanie’s Law gets hearing, still remains in committee: The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois opposes the bill. ACLU’s Ben Ruddell called the measure a perversion of due process. “The way the law works is to be on a sex registry, one has to be convicted of a sex offense,” Ruddell said.
* Phelps Finnie-sponsored bill would change tax rules for oil and gas producers
* Vapor product licensing: State lawmakers are drafting plans to regulate the vaping industry. Supporters think it could block illegal sales to minors. Critics say new licensing requirements would hurt tobacco shops which already sell vapor products.
* Homeless protection proposal: If passed, local police won’t be able to force someone off public property without helping them find shelter first. Officers also won’t be allowed to throw away their belongings. If rights are violated, a homeless person could sue the city. The bill would also require local governments to help them find jobs and access to public transportation.
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* From the Southern Illinoisan…
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s current trip to Germany and Poland could result in economic development for Southern Illinois, the governor said Monday morning.
In a phone interview with The Southern Illinoisan, Rauner said many of the companies his team has been speaking with are perfect investors to build factories, distribution centers, and offices in Southern Illinois. He didn’t mention anything specific, adding that the state has commitments, but he’s not ready to make an announcement.
* Press release…
Governor Bruce Rauner made it official today. HANNOVER MESSE, the world-renowned trade show brand synonymous with industrial innovation, key trends and business leads, is coming to Chicago this fall co-located with the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS).
The premiere of HANNOVER MESSE USA is expected to attract some 550 exhibitors and more than 100,000 visitors to Chicago for the September 10-15 show. The brand will occupy about 130,000 square feet of display space on two levels in the East Building of McCormick Place.
IMTS is already among the largest trade shows in the world, attracting more than 115,000 visitors from every level of industry and more than 120 countries. The addition of the HANNOVER MESSE brand adds to the show’s international standing among manufacturers looking to learn more about advances in equipment and technology.
“Having HANNOVER join forces with IMTS for this biennial event makes Chicago the go-to destination for manufacturers worldwide,” said Rauner at a press gathering in connection with the HANNOVER MESSE event taking place this week here. “We can count on the collaboration to enhance our reputation as a center for industrial technology. We will also benefit greatly from the economic impact of an enlarged convention visitor and exhibitor base for these shows.”
As we’ve already discussed, this announcement was made last September.
I sure hope he has something real to announce after all that time over there.
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* Tribune…
After his gubernatorial hopes were dashed in the March primary, state Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston, says he doesn’t really know his next career move but he plans to continue his push for the state adopting a progressive income tax structure – and he could throw his full support behind his former billionaire opponent J.B. Pritzker. […]
The two men have had multiple phone conversations since the primary, and Biss said he meets regularly with Pritzker’s staff. […]
“I have no doubt that J.B. is serious about getting this [graduated income tax] done,” Biss said. “But others who have been serious about it have failed. In fact, all of them have failed. So the question is, what’s [his] plan that’s different from the plans we’ve had in the past?”
Incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner, who is running against Pritzker, said through a spokesman that “raising taxes on the people of Illinois has been the cornerstone of J.B. Pritzker’s campaign.”
“Daniel Biss is an unapologetic supporter of the graduated income tax hike while J.B. Pritzker supports it without giving any details of his own plan,” Rauner spokesman Alex Browning wrote in an email. “Biss is right, it’s time J.B. gets more specific so the people of Illinois know the truth.”
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** Carol Marin tried to drag details out of Sen. Biss about his own graduated tax hike proposal back in January…
MARIN: Do you have a number?
BISS: It’s a real burden. So we need to change the constitution to allow for a progressive income tax. It’s something I’ve been fighting for for a long, long time and use that tool to adequately fund schools.
MARIN: But do you have a number? What the Civic Federation and what the tax accountability groups all look for are some sort of rate and some sort of yield, so we know what we’re gonna get that we don’t otherwise have.
BISS: That’s right. It would have to be patterned after what we see in neighboring states. It would have to be arrived at by working through a series of negotiations on both sides of the ledger by the way. There’s no sense in just setting tax rates unless you said something about what to do with the money, but we need to make sure that resources are adequate to fund our schools properly, which requires significant more revenue.
* Related…
* New ad campaign warn taxpayers about progressive tax: Nelms said once Illinois lawmakers get the power to add tax brackets, and raise rates, the sky is the limit. “If we scrap our flat state income tax and implement a progressive tax, that would give the legislature carte blanche,” Nelms said.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Speaker Madigan…
“But for American political parties, they have to be aware of what the people want.”
That’s a pretty bold statement for someone who has for decades bottled up a whole lot of stuff that people say they want.
* The Question: What do you want the GA to do?
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* Peoria Journal Star…
At Sunday’s new conference, [Tazewell County Sheriff Robert Huston] released all the reports his office had filed with regards to Reinking. He also said Reinking’s weapons were taken from him but then returned to his father, who had a valid FOID card. That was done, the sheriff said, because it was a “constitutional” issue regarding property rights.
“Constitutional” property rights issue, eh?
* SJ-R…
Newspapers in an 11-county area that make up GateHouse’s Western Illinois Division have completed an in-depth news project looking at spending of money seized in drug busts. Each city police department, sheriff’s office and state’s attorney’s office gets a share of the money. The project gathered itemized expenditures out of those funds from 38 agencies in the 11 counties between Aug. 1, 2011, and July 31, 2012.
Number one county on that list? Tazewell, at $12,300.
* And it’s not like the county didn’t know about Reinking’s many mental problems. Click here for the local police reports going back to May of 2016. Pantagraph…
“The police reports speak for themselves. I think anyone can conclude after reading them that there’s evidence (Reinking) has mental health issues,” said Tazewell County Sheriff Bob Huston.
And yet, Reinking kept legal possession of his guns until he showed up at the White House.
* Newsweek…
Jeff Reinking, Travis’s father, owns a crane rental service in Illinois. His son was described as “delusional” in another police report from 2016.
The Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office report for an incident referred to as “suicide attempt by firearms” said Travis Reinking “was delusional and believed the famous entertainer, Taylor Swift, was harassing him via stalking and hacking his phone. Travis believes everyone including his own family and the police are involved.”
It noted that his father, his mother, Judith, and his grandmother Marilyn all had concerns about him.
“Travis is hostile towards police and does not recognize police authority. Travis also possesses several firearms,” said the incident report. It also said Reinking believed he has autism, had made “suicidal comments” and was eventually taken away for mental evaluation.
And yet Reinking kept his guns.
* He was forcefully taken by the police to that mental evaluation…
The former Morton man had several run-ins with police over the past several years. In May 2016, police responded to the CVS parking lot in Morton, where Reinking was in his vehicle allegedly having delusions about singer Taylor Swift harassing him, stalking him and hacking his phone. The delusions had allegedly gone on since August of 2014. His family was also at the parking lot and feared for his safety because he had made comments about killing himself earlier in the day.
Officers tried to convince Reinking to seek help at UnityPoint Health-Methodist, and told him he could not leave the scene because he was in protective custody due to suicidal comments he made. Reinking allegedly attempted to leave again before he was made to go to [UnityPoint Health-Methodist].
No word on what that evaluation found, but Reinking kept his guns.
* The police had lots of forewarning. WAND…
Reinking also told the officer he believed people were trying to goad him into breaking the law, alluding to an out-of-state incident where a van had a sign which read “Don’t steal the van on it.” Reinking thought the sign was directed at him specifically. Reinking appeared to be serious and concerned when filing the August 2017 report, the officer said. The officer assured Reinking a report would be on file.
And the cops let Reinking keep his guns.
* NY Times…
In reports, the sheriff’s department in Tazewell County, Ill., had described Mr. Reinking as a man who was hostile to the police, had threatened suicide and believed his family was harassing him. […]
In August 2017, Travis Reinking, driving a blue Mitsubishi, pulled up alongside a police car and said he wanted to file a report. About 20 to 30 people were hacking into his phone and computer, he told the police. He could hear people outside his home barking like dogs, but didn’t know who they were. At a Walmart recently, he felt that a man in a black shirt was watching him, and no one else.
Hostile to the police, suicidal and clearly delusional, but Reinking kept his guns.
* CNN…
On June 16, 2017, an employee of his father’s business, J&J Cranes, called the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office to report that Reinking came down from his apartment wearing a pink dress and holding a rifle, an incident report states.
The employee told police Reinking yelled “Is this what you f—–g want?” before he threw his rifle in his trunk and left, according to the report.
Around the same time, the Tremont Police Department responded to a call to a public pool, according to another incident report. The pool director told the responding officer that a man in his 20s barged into the pool wearing a pink women’s housecoat, the report states. The man dove into the pool and took off the coat and swam around in his underwear. When he got out of the pool, he shouted at lifeguards that he was a man and exposed his genitals to them, the report states. […]
The officer said he also called Reinking’s father, who was out of state. Jeffrey Reinking told the office he had taken three guns from his son before and locked them up “when Travis was having problems,” the report states.
Later in the day, the officer said in his report, “I called back Jeff Reinking and advised him of what happened and when he gets back home he might want to lock the guns back up until Travis gets mental help, which he stated he would.”
He “might want to lock the guns back up.”
* Meanwhile, the Tribune reports that the father returned his son’s guns three times. There may be a legal loophole…
Transfers of weapons from one family member to another as a “bona fide gift” are exempt from a requirement under Illinois law that the owner first verify with state police that the recipient of the gun has a valid FOID card.
More information is required before a decision on whether to charge Jeffrey Reinking is made, Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stuart Umholtz said Monday in an email to The Pantagraph.
At the very least, that loophole needs to be closed.
*** UPDATE *** I didn’t initially see this Sun-Times editorial on this very topic…
In the wake of the Waffle House shooting, the Legislature also should draw up a bill that would prevent weapons from being returned to anybody after police take them away, unless a court signs off on it. As the Waffle House case shows, we can’t always rely on family members to keep guns away from people who shouldn’t have them.
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* AP late yesterday…
The Illinois state comptroller reports that the amount of late charges the state has incurred on billions of dollars in debt outstrips the amount accrued in the previous two decades.
Comptroller Susana Mendoza said in a report obtained by The Associated Press Monday that Illinois has run up late-pay fees of $1.14 billion since mid-2015. That’s $100 million more than in the previous 18 years combined.
Illinois must pay 12 percent annual interest on bills not paid within 90 days. The backlog ballooned to $16 billion last summer after a two-year budget stalemate between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the General Assembly.
* Mendoza press release…
“The fact that, under Governor Rauner, the state allowed its bill backlog to grow to a point where we incurred nearly two decades worth of late payment interest penalties in just over two years is asinine,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “Imagine what that money could have done to improve conditions for residents at the Quincy Veterans Home, build roads and other infrastructure or fund public schools. This puts a massive price tag on missed opportunities due to a failure in leadership. Going forward, my Office will continue to pursue a legislative agenda that stresses accountability and requires the Governor to address these costs and tell taxpayers how he plans to cover them.”
* Graph…
* Press release…
The Illinois House overwhelmingly approved a measure State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) sponsored to get a better accounting of what the State wastes in late payment interest penalties. […]
Rep. McSweeney worked with the State Comptroller’s office to craft a bill that would add more transparency to the State budgeting process. Beginning with Fiscal Year 2019, House Bill 5814 requires the Governor’s budget to include an estimate of late payment interest penalties for the fiscal year. The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget must also compile in their annual report an estimate of all the late interest payment projections for the following four fiscal years. The bill further provides that late interest payments will not be paid if a Chief Procurement Officer has voided the underlying contract or if the Auditor General is conducting an audit and the State Comptroller is holding the contract for review.
That’s a good idea.
* Pritzker campaign…
“Bruce Rauner starved critical state agencies of funding, holding programs to support Illinois’ working families hostage and devastating countless lives, only to rack up over $1 billion in fees on the backs of Illinois taxpayers,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Bruce Rauner is a billion dollar failure who fiscally mismanaged this state by historic proportions.”
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* Tribune…
As lawmakers eye the possibility of legalizing recreational marijuana in Illinois, House Speaker Michael Madigan says he hasn’t made up his mind on the issue.
“I haven’t come to a final decision,” he said Monday.
Madigan was asked about the topic shortly after he was elected to a record sixth term as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Madigan spoke about how the party must be “inclusive” to win elections.
“The issues change from time to time,” he said. “But for American political parties, they have to be aware of what the people want. When American political parties are not aware of that, they usually dissolve.”
* Sun-Times…
Speaking to reporters on Monday after being re-elected to his sixth term as chairman of the state Democratic Party, Madigan noted he expects a “very strong effort” to get marijuana legalized in the Legislature.
“I’m not quite sure when,” Madigan said. “I just think that you’ll see a growth of support.”
Madigan also said that since JB Pritzker supports legalizing marijuana he expects to see a big push on the topic next year if Pritzker is elected.
As far as I know, Pritzker is the first major party gubernatorial nominee to openly and forcefully argue for legalization. That’s probably not mentioned often enough.
* Meanwhile, Gov. Rauner has often used Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper as an excuse to hold off on legalization here. But Gov. Hickenlooper has evolved from his initial opposition and then skepticism. Here he is in Rolling Stone…
We haven’t seen a big spike in consumption. The only increase in consumption is among senior citizens, which we think is either Baby Boomers coming home to roost or arthritis and the aches and pains of growing older – people finding that marijuana is better pain solution than opioids or other things. […]
Certainly the worst things that we had great fear about – spikes in consumption, kids, people driving while high – we haven’t seen any of that. We saw a little increase in teenagers and that came down within a couple years… We were very worried that by legalizing, we were making this more somehow more psychologically available to kids. We haven’t seen that. If anything, we’ve seen less drug dealers.
Kids can’t buy booze at the grocery store because grocers check IDs. Illegal drug dealers don’t check IDs.
* Related…
* Illinois gets donation of nearly 800,000 vitamin K tablets to treat poisoning from synthetic marijuana
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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Insurers need to deliver on the policies they sell. The Illinois Legislature should support HB 4146 to make health coverage fair.
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* Rauner campaign…
Today, the Rauner campaign is launching PritzkerMadigan.com, a website highlighting JB Pritzker and Mike Madigan’s agenda of fewer jobs, higher taxes, and more corruption.
With Pritzker now the Democratic nominee for governor and Madigan’s reelection as head of the Democratic Party of Illinois, they can finally make their ticket public for all of Illinois to see.
Madigan has conspired to elect Pritzker by “breaking legs behind the scenes.” To repay Madigan, Pritzker has remained silent on his corruption despite calls from high profile Democrats for Madigan to step down as head of the party.
Pritzker and Madigan are offering the same corrupt deals that have hurt Illinois for decades with destructively high taxes and less economic opportunity for hardworking families.
Pritzker-Madigan: Keep Illinois Corrupt
The website is here.
* Madigan addressed this corruption allegation yesterday…
As to being repeatedly called corrupt by Rauner — and having Rauner compare his fight to taking on the Mafia — Madigan said such words and comparisons shouldn’t be used “without solid evidence, which Rauner does not have. … That speaks to Rauner’s mind … (and) how he views attempting to gain success. And I think in the end the people of Illinois are going to come to understand that about Bruce Rauner. They’re going to vote him out of office.”
* Meanwhile…
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* House Speaker Michael Madigan was a guest on “The Ben Joravsky Show” radio program yesterday, which is odd in and of itself. The anti-machine Chicago Reader columnist ain’t exactly a member of the Madigan wing of the Democratic Party. But making this even more interesting, Madigan appeared on the show with Peter Janko, who was the lone vote against Madigan’s bid for party chairman yesterday.
Everyone appeared to get along fine, partly because Madigan kept the focus on defeating Gov. Rauner. Madigan was also asked what he would say to Alaina Hampton if he could. It’s definitely worth a listen…
I doubt we’ll ever see Rauner and Ives appear together on Dan Proft’s radio show. Just sayin…
* Related…
* Re-elected party boss, Madigan looks to future: ‘I’m a very young 76 years old’: Speaking on the “The Ben Joravsky Show” on WCPT-AM shortly after the meeting, Madigan extolled his longevity. I’m a very young 76 years old,” Madigan said. “So long as I can continue to do a good job, I’m going to continue to do it.”
* Madigan gets another term as Illinois Democratic chairman despite sexual harassment complaints on his watch: “So I would like to second your nomination, but I will say in seconding your nomination it’s not a secret that change needs to happen, and we need to be more transparent as an organization,” [US Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson] said. “We need to be more inclusive as an organization, and we need to make sure that we are respecting every man and woman that has anything to do with this organization, in and out.”
* Madigan Elected For 6th Term As Democratic Party Chairman: Madigan said he’s aware of the changes needed to curtail sexual harassment within the party, as well as issues of unity within the party. “Others have said it very, very well. Now it’s the time for Democrats to come together. Now it’s the time to come together so we can elect J.B. Pritzker as the governor of the state Illinois, and make the changes in state government that need to be made so that all Illinoisans can move forward.”
* Madigan re-elected as head of Democrat Party in Illinois: Scott Drury was the only Democratic state Representative not to vote for Madigan as speaker and called for his resignation on the House floor after allegations of sexual harassment in his ward became public. “It is time to call on Speaker Madigan to step down as the leader of the House because he is not worthy of that position,” he said in February. Neither Biss nor Drury would respond to calls about Madigan’s election.
* Michael Madigan wins re-election as Democratic Party leader: Madigan, at the meeting, said that all staff and volunteers of the party and related committees will have mandatory sexual harassment training. “I think that we’ve done a good amount of work” on the issue, Madigan told reporters, “but there’s more to be done.” He said “step number one is to respect other people, treat other people the way you want to be treated.”
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